ARMA Gallery opened its space at Valverde 30 in December 2023, although Arena Martínez’s project had begun five years earlier with exhibitions and participation in art fairs. Painting makes up a significant portion of its program, and the gallery works with both Spanish and international artists. It is currently presenting *Manos de hacer*, Juana González’s first solo exhibition at ARMA Gallery, on view through November 11.
Gallery Profile
Arena Martínez founded Arena Martínez Projects in 2018, the direct predecessor of ARMA Gallery. Martínez had previously worked in the art sector, with experience at Sotheby’s auction house and Art Dubai. In an interview published in 2023, she explained that the project initially began without a permanent gallery and that exhibitions and art fairs were its primary form of activity.
That period can be traced in the gallery’s own archive. Arena Martínez Projects participated in Art Marbella in 2018 and in JUSTMAD the following year. Other editions of JUSTMAD and Estampa followed. In 2020, it organized “Where Art Meets Fashion” at the Joaquín Roncal Center in Zaragoza, and in 2021 it presented Ceramics.
In 2022, Martínez formally separated the gallery from another business bearing her name and renamed Arena Martínez Projects as ARMA Gallery. ARMA is derived from the first syllables of Arena Martínez. The change was publicly announced in December of that year with the group exhibition A Before and After. The gallery continued to operate, though not yet from its current location in Valverde.
The permanent space opened a year later. ARMA Gallery opened on December 13, 2023, on the right mezzanine level of Valverde 30, the same building that houses Espacio Valverde. The opening exhibition was *Encuentro*, curated by Óscar Manrique. The gallery’s archive includes paintings by Elena Gual, Natalia Romanciuc, Papartus, Jorge Nava, Juan Sotomayor, Carlos Cartaxo, Misterpiro, and Seleka.
Valverde's opening allowed for the development of a regular schedule of solo exhibitions. Natalia Romanciuc presented *All of Them and None* in January 2024. The following month saw Pleasures of Body Paintingby Zimbabwean painter Wycliffe Mundopa. At the same time, the gallery has continued to participate in art fairs in Madrid and has expanded that activity beyond Spain. In September 2026, it brought works by Elena Gual to KIAF Seoul and organized a solo exhibition by the Spanish artist at ACEL Art Company, also in Seoul.
Program
Why Go
Juana González (Puertollano, Ciudad Real, 1972) earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Complutense University of Madrid in 2005. Her work focuses primarily on painting and drawing, and the human figure is a recurring motif. Her paintings feature figures on a scale close to life-size, as well as interiors and constructed scenes that do not always make it clear what is happening among the figures.
In 2015, it presented Construction Companies and *Stand by* at the Móstoles City Museum. In 2021, the Sala Robayera in Miengo—a municipal venue in Cantabria that has been dedicated to contemporary art exhibitions since 2004—dedicated *Let’s Go Deeper into the Thicket*. An image of hands on the canvas *Abrazo*, presented in that exhibition, was used on the cover of the catalog.
His painting was later added to the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Madrid. The museum houses Riego, an oil on canvas from 2021 that it received as a donation from Art Madrid in 2023. The municipal documentation of the exhibition INÉDITOS records the addition of the work to the collection.
The hands that appeared in *Abrazo* recur in later works without constituting a planned series. In September 2026, González explained to cultural journalist Alejandro Sedano, in an interview for ArtesHoy, that she works without preliminary sketches and that modifications made during the process may remain visible in the painting. In that conversation, the artist defended the presence of error and second thoughts within the finished painting.
Javier Díaz-Guardiola, journalist and art critic in charge of the art section of ABC Cultural, has also noted the repetition of hands in her painting. In the text written for her current exhibition, he points out that González herself does not attribute any pre-existing meaning to them and that their repeated appearance has also been noted by those who have followed her work.
In May 2026, González participated as a guest artist at the MARTE art fair in Castellón. One of the works associated with that presentation, *Manos*, had been created in 2024. In 2026, she also participated in Contemporary Art Now Madrid with ARMA Gallery.
What to Expect
"Manos de hacer" opened at ARMA Gallery to coincide with Apertura Madrid Gallery Weekend 2026 and is González’s first solo exhibition at the gallery. A few weeks after its closing, *Indómita pintura* at CentroCentro, which will be her first institutional solo exhibition in Madrid.
The exhibition features recent paintings by Juana González and runs through November 11. The title was chosen when most of the works had already been completed or were nearing completion, as Javier Díaz-Guardiola explains in the text he wrote for the exhibition.
Hands appear in several paintings, but they do not always occupy the center of the composition. "Hands", from 2024, is a painting measuring 50 by 40 centimeters. In other works, they are integrated into larger figures. In *Pelo*, for example, they emerge from the lower part of the composition in shapes that Díaz-Guardiola compares to branches. The exhibition also includes *Boy in Aquamarine*, from 2025, a painting measuring 130 by 100 centimeters.
There are works of very different scales. Alongside small-format paintings are larger canvases featuring full-length figures and scenes involving several characters. González uses oil paint and leaves visible traces of changes made during the creative process. In his conversation with Alejandro Sedano, he explained that he may remove a figure, change its position, or leave traces of a previous version.
Faces and bodies remain present alongside the hands. Some figures take up nearly the entire surface; others are part of scenes featuring several characters. The photographs and works published by the gallery show backgrounds created through visible areas of paint, drips, and sections where the brushstrokes are not hidden beneath a uniform surface.
The exhibition will remain open through November 11, 2026.
Represented Artists
What to Do Nearby
ARMA Gallery is located at 30 Valverde. On the ground floor of the same building is Espacio Valverde, a gallery founded in 2006 by Asela Pérez Becerril and Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart. It is currently presenting *Let’s Play Cat and Bull*by Sandra Val. The two spaces have separate entrances.
Madera 33, located at Madera 33, is run by Bombon and Crisis. It opened in 2025 as a joint project between Bombon—a gallery founded in Barcelona in 2017—and Crisis, which was founded in Lima. The space organizes exhibitions in Madrid featuring artists associated with both galleries’ programs.
At 42 Valverde Street is Josefita, a restaurant serving Spanishand Mediterranean cuisinefor lunch and dinner. Spicy Yuli, which specializes in Asian cuisine, is also located at that same address.
Bar Galleta, a restaurant that opened in Malasaña in 2014, is located at 31 Corredera Baja de San Pablo. The menu features seasonal cuisine and incorporates cookies into some savory dishes, a nod to the owners’ family business. The dining room retains its brick walls, wooden floors, and antique furniture.
Another nearby option is Maricastaña, located at 12 Corredera Baja de San Pablo. It opened in 2012 as a café-restaurant and is open from morning through night, serving breakfast, a daily special, and à la carte dishes.
